


Alchemy

by zoeteniets



Series: Alchemy [1]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Extramarital Affairs, M/M, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 22:32:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8596300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zoeteniets/pseuds/zoeteniets
Summary: Aaron's time working at a bar in Leeds is uneventful, until he meets the new owners.





	

Given the number of hours Aaron has worked at the pub helping his mum out, it seems only sensible to get a job in a bar when he moves to Leeds. He finds the place on a night out. The club looks like a warehouse from the outside but inside its all chrome and glass minimalist. When he sees a note over the bar advertising part-time positions he doesn’t think he’ll even get an interview. _Alchemy_ is, after all, about as different from _The Woolpack_ as you can get, and while he’s very experienced with pulling pints and busing tables he doesn’t know the first thing about how to mix a martini. (Later, he’ll be taken to task for trying to shake a gin martini. Apparently, anyone who likes their cocktails knows that James Bond has it the wrong way around.)

He gets the job though, and rapidly finds himself settling in. He learns quickly and soon knows his way around the menu. He’s not much for innovation, preferring to stick to the classic drinks, but that doesn’t matter too much when he’s working the bar. While the nights are frantic, with the bar becoming more of a club than a cocktail house, the early evenings afford him ample opportunity to take his time, learn the ropes, and even to establish something of a loyal customer base.

If he’s honest, he’s kinda rocking the uniform of black smart shirt and tight-fitting black trousers.

Things are a bit up-in-the-air at the bar when he joins. Apparently, there has been some form of crisis in the management team and now the bar has been sold. Aaron doesn’t much bother about it all as he has very little interaction with the owners. He is assured by his line manager that his position is secure, for now at least, as the new owners probably don’t want to go through the hassle of training a load of new staff. Aaron just figures he’ll keep his head down and make sure there was no reason they would want to get rid of him.

Except, that goes a bit spectacularly wrong. 

His shift starts at 5 pm and ends at 1 am which he is grateful for as it means that he has the hours of the day that are quiet and can largely avoid the students and hen nights. Unfortunately for him, this means that instead he has a run-in with the new owners.

He’s just refilling the ice bucket when a sharp tapping sound catches his attention. There’s a blonde guy leaning on the bar, lording it up as if he owns the place. He’s dressed in various tones of blue, which someone must have once told him suites his skin tone and eyes (though Aaron privately thinks that the look is more ‘catalogue’ than ‘runway’.)

God, Aaron hates it when people at the bar try to get his attention by tapping their glass, or shouting for ‘barman’, or by waving money in his direction. Basically, anything less than a polite ‘excuse me’ sets his teeth on edge. So, instead of flashing a charming smile, as he knows he ought to, he simply says “what can I get for you?”

“I’ll have a mojito if it’s not too much trouble,” says the blond guy. Aaron nods and sets to work making the drink. He hates mojitos; first, the fresh mint takes ages to muddle correctly, and then the sugar and lime juice always make his hands sticky. Of course, it’s also one of the most popular drinks, but at least this means that he has lots of experience making them, and he does think he has this particular drink down to a T; if he says so himself.

So, when Blondie takes a sip of his drink and pulls a face he is fairly confident that it’s a look of appreciation, not disgust. He’s also pretty sure that the look the guy is giving his arse as he moves over to the till to process the payment is one of admiration too. 

He smiles to himself, thinking that today might just be something of a fun shift when it all goes to hell.

The woman who enters the bar has a look about her that just screams expensive. From the sharp cut of her bangs to the mix of leather and cashmere in her outfit, a glance could tell you that this is a lady who likes the finer things in life and always gets them. So, when she struts over to the bar, links her arm through the blond guy’s and kisses him on the cheek Aaron’s not too surprised. Of course, she _would_ be with the fittest guy he’d seen in this bar for a month.

“There you are,” she says. “I was wondering where you’d gone to.”

“I thought I would come check out the bar before doing the big announcement,” he smiles beatifically at her. “I wanted to see what it is we’re dealing with.”

“And what’s the judgement?”

“The quality of the cocktails seems to increase the quieter the bar is. This mojito is actually drinkable this time! Here, would you like to try some?”

“Oh, no thank you, far too sweet for me.” She leans over the bar to look at Aaron, “I’ll have a gin martini though, thank you.”

Aaron uses the fact that she thought a mojito was sweet (and really, it didn’t have _that_ much sugar in it) to adjust his usual measurements and passes it over to her.

She smiles at him, “I suppose we ought to introduce ourselves; I’m Chrissie and this is my husband Robert, and we are the new owners of this bar.”

Huh, husband? Aaron is sure that he hadn’t seen a ring.

“Pleased to meet you,” Aaron reaches over the bar to shake her hand.  

They speak for a while about what it is like to work at _Alchemy_ but while Chrissie is very genial she is obviously just being nice, rather than specifically wanting Aaron’s views and opinions. Robert, the husband, remains quiet throughout the conversation. 

He runs into Leyla doing a quick stock assessment in the back room and mentions that he’s seen the new owners. Leyla can always be relied on to be forthcoming with the gossip, and today is no exception. She fills him in on a few juicy details, gleaned from a friend who works at another bar owned by Chrissie and Robert.

“… and you know he came into the business as a bit of a nobody,” she says as he helps her move a few of the heavier boxes. “He went cap-in-hand to her father and begged for a job, said that if he couldn’t increase their profits by 15% in the first year he’d leave the company. I don’t know where he got his head for business, last I heard he was the son of a farmer who chucked him out, but it worked and he actually got their yield up by 32% or something like that. All I’m saying is there seems to be a reason he walks around with that permanently smug expression.”

“Ah, that’s what it was. I thought he was just constipated,” says Aaron, laughing at his own joke. 

It is inevitable, of course, that he will see that smug face again. Over the course of a few shifts, Aaron notices that Robert seems to be spending a lot of time hovering around the bar. This isn’t that weird really, he does own the place after all; it’s just that Aaron’s pretty sure that there are more comfortable places to sit and do paperwork. 

It’s a quiet night, well before the evening clubbing starts, so Aaron takes Robert’s glass and asks, “would you like another?”

Robert looks up with a startled expression; he must have been really concentrating on that stock list. But he recovers and says, “sure, but make me something new, something off menu.”

Aaron hesitates, “I’m a bit of a traditionalist mate, I’m not really one for mixing things up, I mean…” he blushes at his unintended pun, but Robert just smiles at him, “Leyla is excellent at creating new drinks, especially the fun fruity things. I prefer changing and adjusting the older recipes according to the customer’s tastes. I’m a bit old fashioned. And I swear, I don’t usually make this many puns in one day.”

“You were on a bit of a roll there,” Robert says with a wink. “Just mix me whatever you feel like making; I haven’t disliked anything you’ve put before me yet.”

Hang on. Is the blond, married, man who is to all intents and purposes his boss, flirting with him? 

He mixes up an Old Fashioned because it seems apt, and places it before Robert with a bar-mat and a flourish. As he tastes the drink, Robert lets out the faintest of moans of pleasure.

“Cognac, not whisky,” says Aaron before he can ask.

“I’ll bear it in mind for the future,” replies Robert.

Their paths continue to cross; Robert and Chrissie seem to be very hands-on owners, although it does occur to Aaron that it would be impossible for them to split the working week evenly between this and all the other bars that they supposedly own if they’re spending _this_ much time at _Alchemy_. Maybe he should be worrying about his job security after all.

Then, Aaron finds out why it is that Robert is spending so much time there, or at least he finds out why Chrissie thinks he is.

The two of them start off the night in one of the corner booths. When Aaron goes to deliver their drinks (a Negroni for her and a Manhattan Transfer for him) he realises their conversation is more personal than business and he wonders if he should actively try and keep Leyla away from their end of the bar to let them argue in peace.

The upshot, from what he can hear from working at the bar, is that Chrissie thinks he’s spending so much time here because he’s chatting up the bar-staff. Robert is pointing out that such an accusation is both baseless and insulting. Aaron wonders if this is perhaps a conversation that they’ve had before. Especially when Robert quite loudly says, “if you continue to expect the worst of people, that’s exactly what you’re going to get.”

Aaron’s not really sure he agrees with that logic.

The next morning, his phone starts ringing at 11 am. Which doesn’t sound too horrific, except it’s meant to be his day off and he worked the late shift and didn’t get home until 6 hours ago. Still, it’s work, which means that he really does have to answer it.

It’s Robert.

“There’s something wrong with the beer taps. Leyla said that you used to work at a pub. Can you come and have a look at them, so that we know for sure that something is wrong with them before we call someone out to fix them?”

So, Aaron groans, heaves himself out of bed, and makes his way back into work. But when he gets there the taps are working fine. He humours Robert anyway, tinkering about with them just in case, but after a solid twenty minutes, he can find nothing wrong.

He’s not normally rude. Abrasive, or unfriendly, maybe, but not rude. But today he just can’t help himself.

“There’s nothing wrong with them, as far as I can see.”

“Right, are you sure about that?”

“I think I’m done here,” Aaron says and moves to pick his jacket up from where he slung it onto the bar.

“Hang on,” says Robert, reaching out and gripping his wrist. Aaron startles and pulls back immediately. “Sorry,” says Robert. “Look, I know there’s nothing wrong with the taps, I made it up.”

“What, so you just like wasting my time do you? Is that how you get your kicks?”

“What do you think?”

Oh, the smug bastard.

“I think I don’t like being messed around.” Aaron moves to leave again.

“Don’t!” says Robert, and he sounds so hurt that it genuinely stops Aaron in his tracks. “I’m not… I’m not messing you around.”

“Really, and how’s that?”

“Because you know why we’re both still here.”

And really, Aaron has a pretty good idea, but he’s not about to give in that easy.

“Do I?” he asks. “You tell me.”  

Robert steps up to him, so close he can almost count the freckles that dust the bridge of his nose. It’s a moment, and it tastes of anticipation. But then it sours and is gone.

“Forget it,” says Robert.

“Fine,” Aaron replies. “See you around,” although maybe he ought to start looking for work elsewhere.

He turns to go and makes it to the end of the bar, when suddenly two hands are grabbing him, turning him around, and the next thing he knows he is having his face snogged off.

And yes, he knows Robert is married, but this kiss is making his toes curl. So, he lets his married boss snog the life out of him, and he lets his married boss drag him into the back room, and he lets his married boss fuck him on the floor of their workplace because he never claimed to be a good person, and Robert can do this thing with his tongue that makes his world go completely white.

It is for this reason that they continue to meet up. It starts off with the occasional snog on a break, or after the shift ends. Then it becomes nights away in hotel rooms of various quality, and once a very memorable weekend away at one of their supplier’s product launches.  

He knows it’s not ideal. He knows that Robert isn’t going to leave Chrissie for him. He knows that ultimately Robert is just using him. But he also knows that Robert just needs to snap his fingers and he’ll come running, though he’ll put on a show of reluctance just to maintain a shred of dignity. He’s never felt this way about someone before. It’s a rush, like the first taste of an expensive whisky, and it burns him all the way down.

It’s a miracle they last for as long as they do without getting caught. 

It’s a Tuesday early evening, which means that it is pretty quiet and only he and Leyla are working the bar. Robert is at his usual spot, looking a little glum, but there’s nothing that Aaron can do about that with everyone watching. 

Chrissie comes in whilst Leyla is moving about bussing tables, so Aaron makes her a drink. He picks one of his now semi-famous Old Fashions, but this time he makes it with extra bitters to suit both her tastes and her demeanour. Even Robert is shying away from her a little this evening. 

Then Leyla comes back, and Chrissie very calmly and very coolly accuses her of having an affair with her husband.

Leyla, the poor girl, has got no idea what is going on. Chrissie’s attack on her grows brutal in the face of Leyla's denial; she’s threatening all sorts, firings, lawsuits, it sounds like she’s going to have her run out of town. He looks over to Robert for help, but he’s just sitting there quietly, doing nothing.

And Aaron sees red.

“Oh, for goodness sake you stupid cow, he wasn’t having an affair with Leyla, he was having an affair with me!”

The drink he had just made is thrown in his face.

“You liar,” she tells him. “As if he’d go with you!”

“Oh, he went with me all right,” says Aaron, wiping the cocktail out of his eyes. “I can tell you about it all, the dates and times we met, where you were, what we did. I even know about that scar on his chest. You were so right that he was spending too much time here, but you were blind to the reason why. For Christ’s sake, we’ve even fucked on this bar, that’s why we ordered so many new glasses that month; because we kept knocking them over!”  

“You’re fired!” she screams at him, but he’s already halfway around the bar, right behind a still and silent Robert.

“I wasn’t going to just stand there and watch her threaten Leyla like that, you coward!” he spits in Robert’s ear.

And then he walks out of _Alchemy_ for good.

He expects that finding work in another bar, given that Chrissie and Robert own about half of the ones in this town, is not going to be easy. There is also the small matter of the fact that he has no reference from the bar, and he is not about to go and ask Robert for one. They haven’t spoken at all since Aaron walked out.

So, he’s really surprised when he gets a call from a bar that he put his C.V. into a few nights ago. He goes for an interview at the new place. It’s called, _Keep the Faith_ and definitely has more of a hipster vibe to it than the last place. There’s not a dash of chrome here, just a lot of exposed brickwork and reclaimed wood furniture.

The girl who interviews him has died blue hair and a nose ring.

“I’ve gotta ask mate, why did you leave your last job?” she says.

“I had something of a falling out with the owners,” he replies, not wanting to lie.

“Ah yeah, the Whites? I’ve had a few interactions with them in the past; they wanted to buy this place but there’s no way we’re interested in selling. Nasty, stuck up people if you ask me, though the blonde one is cute.”

“Robert?” he says, and then regrets sounding so eager.

“No, the sister, Rebecca,” she replies with a leer. “Fabulous tits.”

“If you say so.”

He makes her a few of his favourites, encouraged by the fact that the hipster crowd is pushing for more classic type cocktails, and she hires him on the spot.

It’s nice working here. The crowd can sometimes get annoying if their Gimlets aren’t made just-so, but aside from that he much prefers the more laidback atmosphere. And he gets to keep his uniform of black on black, though he has changed his hairstyle to fit in with the place a bit more. 

When someone asks him how he’s doing, he says he's fine, and hopes that they don’t catch the disappointment in his eyes.

Until, one day, from behind him he hears a familiar voice ask, “can I get an Old Fashioned, but can I have it made with cognac, not whiskey?”

And a shiver runs through him, like alchemy.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Gah, how cheesy is that ending! Couldn't resist though :) Also, I really want a cocktail now...
> 
> Happy two-years-since-first-meeting anniversary people!
> 
> This fic is a response to two more anon prompts I stole off smittenwithsugden on tumblr asking for Robert and Aaron as colleges working at a bar. 
> 
> I have never been to Leeds, so the places mentioned here are made up ('Keep the Faith' is actually a hipster barber and tattoo parlour in Cardiff.) 
> 
> I love a good au me, so if you have any ideas feel free to hit me up on tumblr. I'm iwillsendapostcard there. 
> 
> There is now a second part to this fic.


End file.
